2 week trip south

2gypsies wrote:

mickey48 wrote:
we were in the Keys part of sept, and oct. just looking for a quick get away. any recoomendations on gulf shores?

We liked Gulf State Park, Alabama better than northern Florida. It's very nice and a beautiful beach, great restaurants, shopping and fresh shrimp off the boats. Biking is excellent if you bring them. The park is full of snowbirds staying the winter. The park has some activities. Unlike most state parks with a 2-week limit, you can stay the whole season here.

^^^^^ GOOD ADVICE ^^^^^

Clicky to the Park

Clicky to the Camp Ground


IMHO this will solve all your problems and answer all your questions.

JMHO,

mickey48 wrote:
we were in the Keys part of sept, and oct. just looking for a quick get away. any recoomendations on gulf shores?

We liked Gulf State Park, Alabama better than northern Florida. It's very nice and a beautiful beach, great restaurants, shopping and fresh shrimp off the boats. Biking is excellent if you bring them. The park is full of snowbirds staying the winter. The park has some activities. Unlike most state parks with a 2-week limit, you can stay the whole season here.

we were in the Keys part of sept, and oct. just looking for a quick get away. any recoomendations on gulf shores?

We wintered at the gulf coast in MS for 3 years. Jan & Feb can get down to freezing at night and very cool during the day, especially if the sun isn't shining. I'd go further south in FL.

We make Tampa with only 2 nights on the road. Southern TN can be cold. Southern GA is much nicer, just cool. Spend the time in the warmer weather if you only have 2 weeks.

Any chance to go longer for two weeks? If retired, two months of Jan/Feb would be much better and you can go deeper south.

I think I would bust my butt to get to Fla and once you see the temps you will go farther south to enjoy the warmth.

Are you taking your time to get to Florida and enjoying the sites along the way or you planning to get there quickly? If you plan to stop along the way I would recommend staying in Charleston, SC for a few days. James Island County Park and Oaks Plantation Campground are close to Charleston and are both nice. You can do Savannah, GA in a day, maybe two if you really take your time. Charleston is a much nicer city, but Savannah is nice too. We really like Skidaway Island State Park. Very nice park and only about 20 minutes from downtown Savannah. If you are into history, you can check out Fort Pulaski and Old Fort Jackson.

Further south in GA is Jekyll Island and St. Simons Island. Jekyll Island has a campground on the island. It's an okay campground, but the island is beautiful if you are a nature lover. You can also stay at Blythe Island Regional Park and Campground or Coastal GA RV Resort. Both are at the same exit of I-95 that Jekyll Island is and both are nicer campgrounds. Coastal GA might be hard to get into in January. They just started expanding the Resort, probably be complete this time next year.

We really like Hannah Park in Jacksonville. It's nice walk or short ride to the beach and a short ride to Jacksonville Beach, if you are into that thing. Downtown Jacksonville has some half decent Museums. We really like Jacksonville Zoo and there is also Fort Caroline.

St Augustine isn't too much further south. We like North Beach Campground right on A1A across from the beach. There are two nice restaurants in walking distance of the campground. It might be tough to get a reservation as winter is their peak season. Anastasia State Park is nice too, but again, peak season at Florida State Parks can be tough to get a site on short notice.

Coastal SC and GA will be cold in January. Day time temps are usually in the upper 40s to mid 50s. However there have been days in the 80s and days in the 30s. Being from OH, I'm sure any temp will be a relief :)

-Michael

Marianna FL has a neat state park with caverns and there are several private campgrounds near like http://www.arrowheadcamp.com/.

We've been snowbirds for the past 12 years or so, escaping the New England winters by heading to Florida and the Gulf Coast of Alabama and Mississippi. We have no problem with the temperatures in northern Florida - compared to home, it's quite balmy there. Our first year we did venture further south to the Everglades and Key West. Both were fun to see, but we found it too warm, too crowded and too expensive for our tastes.

You can get a feel for the north Florida area by reviewing our stories and pictures at our website: Toad Hall. Click on the "Our Travels" menu option and then "Wintering in FL".

There are lots of great state and local parks in that area - just look under the "Campground Reviews" menu option for "Florida".

Have a great trip!